Cycling Tottenham Hale

Joanne McCartney: Major development works in the Tottenham Hale area have meant a loss of pedestrian and cycle lane provision which is causing great concern about safety. What discussions has there been between TfL and the London Borough of Haringey to ensure that safety is not compromised and that where possible segregated cycle lanes are preserved? Will TfL review on a regular basis provision for cyclists in this area as development work will cause disruption for the next few years?

The Mayor: The works at The Hale are complex, with 46 separate phases over the duration of the build. Transport for London (TfL) has been working closely with the London Borough of Haringey and the contractor to ensure that provision is made for cyclists where possible.
TfL is continuing to review the works and cycle assessment and environmental walks have been booked over the next month as part of the ongoing monitoring strategy. The complexity of some phases mean that there is insufficient space to retain a cycleway, and TfL and the London Borough of Haringey will continue to explore options within the proposed Traffic Management plans to ensure safe and convenient provision for people walking and cycling.

Bus Changes and Public Transport Access in Hackney

Jennette Arnold: Recent cuts and changes to bus routes including the 48, 242 and 277 in Hackney have left a 10-25 percent reduction in service frequency across the borough. How do you intend to make sure my constituents in Hackney are able to continue accessing public transport rather than having to rely on private vehicles?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) is modernising the bus network to respond to changing travel behaviour and ensure that bus capacity is better matched to demand. Although frequency on some routes has been reduced, bus operated mileage in Hackney in 2018/19 was only three per cent lower than in 2014/15, compared with a 10 per cent reduction in demand over the same period.
Improvements to parallel rail services on the London Overground North London and West Anglia lines have provided alternative public transport options for customers and led to reduced demand for bus services across the borough. Improvements include the newly expanded Dalston Kingsland and Hackney Wick stations and the increase on the North London Line off-peak services in May 2019 from six to eight trains per hour (tph). In December 2019, peak services on this line will increase from eight to 10 tph, providing further capacity, while London Overground services from Liverpool Street will be improved with the introduction of brand-new trains.
Overall, the changes to routes 26, 48, 55 and 388 will reduce mileage in Hackney by four per cent and the changes to routes 242 and 277 do not reduce mileage at all.
Demand for route 48 has gone down by 21 per cent since 2013/14. This is because passengers are transferring to other forms of local transport in Hackney and neighbouring Waltham Forest that have improved markedly over this time. As well as walking and cycling improvements, TfL’s control over local West Anglia services has led to a 46 per cent increase in trips at stations adjacent to route 48. The Victoria line upgrade has increased trips at Walthamstow Central, where route 48 started, by 17 per cent.
Route 55 has been extended to cover much of the route served by the 48 and, in response to feedback from last year’s public consultation, route 388 has been extended to London Bridge station to mitigate otherwise lost direct links. Frequencies have also been increased on routes 26 and route 318, linking Stamford Hill to North Middlesex Hospital among other locations.
TfL has boosted the peak frequency of route 30, which runs from Highbury Corner to Dalston, with buses now running up to every six minutes. TfL's analysis shows that this route has enough capacity to meet the demand from passengers who previously used the 277. TfL has also introduced night bus route N277, which extends beyond Highbury Corner to provide new night time links to Angel.
My Hopper Fare means any customers who need to change bus will not be charged for any additional journeys made within one hour of first touching in when using the same Oyster or Contactless payment card.

Leasehold homes (1)

Tom Copley: Given that London has a much higher proportion of people living in flats and new builds than the rest of the country, did the GLA respond to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s recent consultation, “Implementing reforms to the leasehold system in England”, and if so could you share a copy of your response?

The Mayor: Yes, the GLA responded. The response is available to view on the GLA website here:https://www.london.gov.uk/what-we-do/housing-and-land/housing-and-land-publications/implementing-reforms-leasehold-system.

ULEZ awareness

Andrew Boff: What is the total amount of money the GLA and TFL have spent on raising awareness for the introduction of the ULEZ. Please give me a yearly breakdown and please include PR/marketing/digital costs as well as any other costs around engagement and awareness. Please also provide me with a breakdown of how this money was spent.

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) has spent the following on raising awareness and educating drivers about how the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) works:
2017 consultation
April 2017 – March 2018
April 2018 – March 2019
April 2019 – July 2019
Marketing costs
£11,820
£276,000
£451,420
£45,938
Media channels – total
£171,888
£1,237,350
£210,377
Digital
£30,000
£123,711
£8,000
Posters
£187,913
£72,862
Press
£51,560
£239,488
£27,038
Radio
£64,977
£383,134
£100,962
Social
£12,721
Emails/letters using TfL database
£6,855
£36,599
£1,515
Direct marketing
£250,000
Leaflet design & distribution
£18,496
£3,784
Total
£183,708
£276,000
£1,688,770
£256,315
Grand Total
£2,404,793
Marketing costs include developing advertising, production, printing and supply.
Prior to the implementation of the central ULEZ, TfL carried out several consultations.
The original consultation to introduce the central London ULEZ took place in 2015. Further consultations took place in 2016, and the most recent one in 2017 focused on bringing forward the start date of the ULEZ to 8 April 2019.

Heathrow (1)

Tony Devenish: Please update the Assembly on what you have done over the last six months to help fight against the expansion of Heathrow.

The Mayor: I remain committed to opposing expansion of Heathrow Airport given its dire environmental and surface access impacts.
Central to this has been my legal challenge, in collaboration with five local authorities and Greenpeace, of the Government’s National Policy Statement (NPS) in support of Heathrow expansion, which was heard by the courts in March. Though the decision was disappointing, the court set out key parameters for the Development Consent Order (DCO) being taken forward by Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL), notably that air quality “was the reddest of red lines”. I have appealed the Judicial Review decision in relation to key questions of law. The appeal was heard from 17 – 25 October and I expect an outcome before the end of the year
Separately, I have written to the Government asking them to review the decision to support Heathrow expansion in the light of the Climate Change Committee’s new advice on formally including aviation international aviation and shipping (‘IAS’) emissions within the UK’s net-zero target and I hope that they will take this opportunity to make the right call and change their minds.
GLA and TfL officers responded to HAL’s statutory DCO consultation on expansion, on 13 September. Through this process I raised my fundamental concerns about the expansion proposals and their impacts, as well as the underpinning evidence and assumptions. The full response is published on TfL’s website here: https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/aviation.
In March, my Deputy Mayor for Environment responded to the HAL consultation on noise and airspace in relation to expansion, raising our specific concerns about the very serious worsening of noise exposure that will result from HAL’s proposals, including a potential 65 per cent increase in night noise. My response to the Government’s Aviation Strategy consultation in April also reiterated the serious concerns about Heathrow expansion.
I remain resolute in defending the health and well-being of Londoners and I will continue to ensure all efforts are made to challenge Heathrow expansion and its severe impacts.

City Airport

Andrew Boff: Are you committed to ensuring that the cap of 111,000 flights for City Airport is retained in perpetuity?

The Mayor: Please see my response to Mayor's Question 2019/14208.

TFL spending on PR/Public Affairs

Andrew Boff: How much money has TFL spent on PR/public affairs companies in the 2018/19 year? Please also provide details of what this money was used for and which PR/public affairs companies were used.

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) does not use agencies for PR or public affairs work.
The only exception is the Art on the Underground programme, which contracts a specialist Arts PR support agency to communicate the programme to the widest possible audience.
Art on the Underground’s work is part-funded by external sources, including commercial sponsorship, grants and sales income from selling limited editions prints and books online, as well as other products like artist designed tiles through specialist retailers.
In addition, over the period TfL’s Property Development programme contracted agencies to conduct specialist local community engagement to support the delivery of much needed new, affordable homes on TfL land. Crossrail 2 and TfL also contracted agencies to support in local community event planning and logistics work. These companies were not contracted to perform PR or public affairs work but the cost of the community engagement work is included in the table below for completeness.
Please see the table below for the breakdown.
£207,601.31
£37,344.63

TfL Spend on Consultants

Unmesh Desai: Please provide a breakdown of wider TfL (including London Underground and Crossrail) spend on consultants in 2012-13, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19. This should be broken down into agencies, management consultancy and professional services - including those employed on an interim basis / covering for vacancies. This should include total spend and the average period of employment in each area.

The Mayor: Since becoming Mayor I have challenged Transport for London (TfL) to reduce costs across the business. As part of this, TfL has reduced its reliance on consultancy and professional services firms as well as agency staff; driving down the cost of non-permanent labour and consultancy to make significant savings. This has led to a reduced spend on consultants and Non-Permanent Labour (NPL) of 38 per cent.
A breakdown of consultancy and NPL at TfL is provided below for the financial years 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19. Data for 2012-13 is not in a format allowing further breakdown or like for like comparison with more recent years.
Management Consultancy
Professional Services
NPL
2016-17
£24,439,380
£88,002,197
£189,577,568
2017-18
£22,847,466
£83,214,567
£106,419,406
2018-19
£12,900,094
£95,716,786
£77,550,912
Consultants are typically brought into the business to deliver a defined piece of work. Therefore TfL does not have direct control over how many consultants are used or for how long, in delivery of a particular project. TfL is therefore unable to confirm an average tenure for either managerial or professional service consultants.
A breakdown of consultancy and NPL at Crossrail is provided below for the financial years 2012-13, 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19. These figures are for agency temps and do not include project delivery partners.
Management Consultancy
Professional Services
NPL
2012-13
£11,865,564
£4,778,865
£85,426,255
2016-17
£6,276,510
£2,082,850
£68,271,386
2017-18
£12,770,042
£2,225,137
£54,634,868
2018-19
£11,464,866
£1,238,332
£48,815,056
The average tenure for NPL at TfL and Crossrail for the years requested is also provided below:
TfL
Crossrail
2012-13
N/A
263 days
2016-17
513 days
193 days
2017-18
428 days
221 days
2018-19
395 days
180 days

London City Airport Master Plan

Caroline Russell: The London City Airport Master Plan, released on 28 June 2019, proposes to double the number of flights allowed to use the airport each year from the current level of 75,000 to 151,000 by 2035. It also proposes to get rid of the ban on flights between midday Saturday and midday Sunday and to increase the number of early morning and late evening flights. Given the severe levels of noise disruption that residents are already experiencing, as outlined in the January 2019 London Assembly Environment Committee report, Aircraft Noise, will you join me in condemning these proposals in the strongest possible terms, highlighting the unacceptable noise, air pollution and climate change implications?

The Mayor: Through its draft Master Plan, London City Airport appears to have taken a first step towards seeking an easing of restrictions on operations at the airport, with potentially significant consequences for our environment and surface access networks.
This is in the context of the reduction in the annual movement cap to which London City Airport agreed in order to secure planning permission for its current City Airport Development Programme. Also relevant are the ongoing concerns about the concentrated flightpaths implemented by London City Airport which result in some residents bearing a disproportionately large share of the airport’s noise exposure.
Officers at the Greater London Authority and Transport for London have carefully scrutinised the detail of the draft master plan and on 18 October I formally responded to the consultation. In my response, I call on the Airport to take its environmental responsibilities and its impact on Londoners seriously and highlight my concerns about the noise, air quality and climate change implications of growth at the airport. My full submission can be read here – https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/aviation

Temporary Shuttle Buses

Steve O'Connell: When buses are on diversion for planned road, utility or civil engineering works, as recently happened along Norbury Crescent (No. 50), TfL just put a yellow sticker on the affected bus stops. They give no advance warning. The sticker may indicate that passengers should walk to the next bus stop, but this may also be closed. This means that older people and those with limited mobility problems either have to struggle to reach the next open bus stop, order a cab if they can afford it, or abandon their journey and go back home.
What consideration has been given to the use of shuttle buses to take passengers to and from the nearest bus stops at either end of the road works?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) does consider putting on shuttle buses where impacts are severe and an alternative can make a very significant difference, such as for route 533 which is running while Hammersmith Bridge is closed. TfL is also planning a temporary shuttle bus in the Morden area to help customers affected by the closure of the Bishopsford Road bridge.
TfL puts yellow notices up as soon as it knows a section of stops will definitely be closed, such as major planned events like the Notting Hill Carnival or Ride London. Unfortunately, as emergency utility works can start with little or no notice, this is not always possible. TfL will not post information if there is uncertainty over the nature, frequency and duration of the work or if the work is likely to finish shortly after it starts as this might risk misinforming customers. At a minimum, information on the yellow notices tells customers where they can find their next available stop. Before posting, operational staff survey the area see if there is a safe and accessible site for a temporary stop which would cause less disruption to customers.
TfL is very conscious of the challenges faced by customers when its bus stops are taken out of use. This is why it revised daily fees it charges works promoters who take bus stops out of service to better reflect the real disruption faced by customers and also to make promoters consider introducing less disruptive schemes instead.

Claims against Crossrail

Caroline Pidgeon: How many (a) individuals and (b) businesses have signed a liability waiver for damages having made a claim against Crossrail?

The Mayor: Crossrail is Europe’s largest infrastructure project, and an incredible feat of engineering; involving tunnel excavation, and underground construction below London’s historic streets. Whilst every care is taken to limit the impact of the works, like other infrastructure projects of this scale and complexity, there are occasions where compensation for damages are sought. Crossrail Ltd and its insurers have appointed professional loss adjusting firms to manage claims for compensation for damage along the route of the railway caused to buildings and property (e.g. garden walls) by Crossrail works.
When a claim is made, if the loss adjusters confirm that the damage to the building or property has been caused by Crossrail works, they assess the cost to the claimant of repairing the damage and any other losses the claimant has suffered for which Crossrail Ltd is liable. The loss adjusters then make an offer to the claimant to settle the claim.
Once a claim is settled it is considered to be resolved and as is usual in these circumstances,no further claim can be made in relation to the same issue. However, if an offer for settlement is not accepted, the claimant is, of course, free to pursue the matter further.
To date the loss adjusting firms have settled 352 claims for compensation for damage caused to buildings or property by Crossrail works. The loss adjusters do not make a distinction between claimants who are individuals and those that are businesses, therefore, Crossrail Ltd is unable to provideabreakdown in the form requested.

Bus Cuts (3)

Tony Devenish: What percentage of the London bus fleet is now green?

The Mayor: Around 85 per cent is now at the ultra-clean Euro VI engine emission standard or better, and the rest will follow by next year – cutting the most harmful tailpipe pollutants by up to 80 per cent. There are currently 210 zero-emission buses in the fleet, with at least a further 60 to follow by the middle of 2020.